


The Winter of Their Discontent: The Continuing Story of Casien Yedlin (Book 4)

by ArtemisMoonsong



Series: The (Really and Truly Inspiring) Story of Casien Yedlin [6]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Established Relationship, Friendship, M/M, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:47:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29761941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtemisMoonsong/pseuds/ArtemisMoonsong
Summary: It's the winter after the second moot in Solitude, and Casien is only too happy to get to spend it with his new friend, Laurie - even if he'dreallyrather be with Ulfric and Falk discussing their plans for next spring. Unfortunately, trouble with the Dunmer in the Gray Quarter, along with a mysterious series of murders, threaten to put a damper on his plans regardless.
Relationships: Falk Firebeard/Original Male Character(s), Ulfric Stormcloak/Original Male Character(s)
Series: The (Really and Truly Inspiring) Story of Casien Yedlin [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1152035
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	The Winter of Their Discontent: The Continuing Story of Casien Yedlin (Book 4)

* * *

Some might say it’s a privilege to be married to a king.

After all, most folk don’t have their breakfast delivered to them by servants on a literal silver platter. Most don’t open their wardrobe each morning and swear there’s a brand-new item of clothing there that wasn’t there the day before. And I’m sure most don’t have the luxury of crawling back into their ridiculously large bed because they’re still sleepy and their first meeting isn't until 2pm anyway, and besides—the cat is looking extra cuddly at present, and since the aforementioned king is absent and hence unavailable for snuggling, snuggling the cat is the next best thing.

I’ve been called ‘spoiled’—usually by my own husband, but sometimes by members of his family, too. They’re not wrong, I suppose. (I would argue that he _likes_ me to be spoiled, but it’s probably a moot point.) It isn’t as if I’m lazy and don’t pull my weight around the palace. In fact, I’ve even been accused of being a workaholic—and this coming from the same man who sometimes doesn’t finish working until well after midnight!

The truth is, I sometimes think I have a _right_ to be spoiled. Saying ‘I do’ to a king brought with it a host of privileges, yes, but with great privilege came great responsibility. Or maybe that was just him rubbing off on me.

Or maybe it’s just that going from being a poor, orphaned servant to the second most powerful person in all of Skyrim can really help put things into perspective.

//

It was the end of a very, very long week. Ulfric had been away, traveling south with Galmar and Ania to inspect the restoration progress at Mistveil Keep. He’d asked, of course, if I’d wanted to come, but traveling on horseback for several days with a group of soldiers wasn’t exactly my idea of a good time. I told myself I would enjoy my independence—as if he were this great, awful, controlling force in my life, when nothing could be further from the truth. Of course, the reality was I ended up missing him, constantly, and I had a feeling he felt the same.

But at least we both had our work to distract us—and my own workload increased tenfold now that he and the other two were gone. It wasn’t that Galmar and Ania didn’t have seconds to take over for them while they were away. It was that those seconds must now report daily to _me_ instead of my husband. And I in turn must act like I actually understood what they were talking about when they went on about training regimens and patrol schedules and equipment maintenance.

I also had to sit and listen to his petitioners every morning for an hour. I never liked having to do that—not because I disliked listening to people talk about what needed fixing, but because I often had no idea _how_ to fix whatever needed fixing. I had also garnered a reputation about town for being soft-hearted, and I’ve little doubt many of the petitioners used that to their advantage. Then again, people also tended to think me ignorant and weak-minded, but that usually only ended up working to _my_ advantage.

And all of this was on top of my regular duties, which included budgetary meetings, updates on the new satellite mage college, and any personal projects I was currently overseeing, like the Argonian housing situation or the new school being built in the southeast district of the city. So by the time Loredas came around, I chose to be selfish. I spent the morning cuddling with my cat, reading in front of the fireplace, and doing all the puzzles in the local newspapers I'd been collecting for the week.

In the end, I didn’t emerge from the apartment until lunchtime.

“And he finally deigns to join us!” said Hasan, grinning when I gave him a no doubt irritable look. “We were wondering when you’d get bored.”

“I’m not bored,” I said, sitting down in my usual spot and beginning to pile my plate with food. “I’m hungry.”

“Well don’t disappear again after lunch,” said Una. “We’re still meeting at—

“I know, I know,” I interrupted. “I haven’t forgotten.”

“Geez,” said Nella, who was busy bouncing baby Ava on her knee so her parents could eat. “What crawled up _your_ ass?”

“ _Ne_ lla!” said Una and Hasan in unison, but Nella just grinned.

“Ass!” said Emrik, giggling, and I couldn’t help smiling, and then Nella started laughing, too. So did Ava, but only because she was a baby, and babies can’t help but laugh when other people do.

“Now, Emrik,” I said. “We don’t use words like that. Say ‘booty’ instead.”

“Casien, _no_ ,” said Una. “Emrik, remember what we talked about? _No_ potty words."

“No potty words,” he dutifully repeated.

“He’s in for a rude awakening if he decides to become a soldier,” muttered his father.

“The soldiers have never cursed in front of _me_ ,” said Una, primly reaching for a butter knife. “Not even when I was one of them. And they won’t curse in front of my son, if they know what’s good for them.”

“Oh, t _hat’ll_ make Emrik popular,” said Nella, rolling her eyes.

I snorted, but Una gave me a _look_ , so I stuffed a piece of bread into my mouth.

Lia and Hellina soon joined us, which probably helped force Nella and myself to behave to a certain degree, since the only one who ever got away with doing whatever he wanted around Lia was Emrik (though we were all of us far too wise to tease his grandmother about it). As for Hellina, I knew she’d tease me about missing Ulfric if I gave her half a chance, so I did my best to set my grumpy feelings about the past week aside.

There was at least _one_ reason to look forward to the meeting at two: my friends Brelyna and Eleanor would be there as well. Eleanor had actually been living in the palace for the past year or so, ever since she’d been appointed court historian, but her rooms (which she shared with Hanna) were on the first floor, in the same hallway as the other high-ranking palace employees. We still often managed to see one another at least once a day, but this past week she’d been spending a great deal of time at the satellite college helping Brelyna and the other two mages stationed there deal with some sort of crisis involving a problematic student. Of course, Hanna had also been away on a job for the past _two_ weeks, and, not that she’d admit it, but I knew Eleanor tended to get lonely when her wife was away. I _could’ve_ pointed out that my husband was also away, thereby necessitating our commiserating with one another, but I’d nobly chosen not to mention that to her—mostly because I really hadn’t seen much of her.

“Casien!” she said, as soon as I’d stepped foot into the meeting room, “Tell Brelyna she _needs_ to ask Lucan out on a third date.”

“You need to ask Lucan out on a third date,” I said, taking a seat opposite them both. “Who’s Lucan?”

“He’s no one!” squeaked Brelyna, but Eleanor put her hand over her mouth and narrowed her eyes at me.

“He’s an extremely attractive first mate aboard the ship Hanna served on for her last job. He’s intelligent, romantic, and driven; he even has plans to captain a ship of his own someday. Oh, and when I say ‘romantic’? I mean _romantic_. He brought her _roses_ on their last date.”

“Wow,” I said, looking at Brelyna, whose cheeks were actually darkening a little. “He sounds great.”

“A ship captain, huh?” said Hasan, rubbing his eyes as he entered the room. “Can’t always trust those seafaring types.”

“Hanna vouches for him,” said Eleanor. “He isn’t the type to have a girl in every port, she _swears_.”

“Where’s Una?” I asked, frowning.

“She’s putting Ava down. She’ll be here soon.”

He yawned as he took a seat at the long table, and Eleanor and Brelyna both gave him sympathetic looks.

“Is Ava not sleeping again?” asked Brelyna.

“No, and if she’s anything like her brother, we won’t get a wink of sleep until she’s out of nappies.” He arched an eyebrow at me. “Should’ve given her to you this week. At least we’d have gotten a decent night’s sleep.”

“Bet _that_ would’ve cured his baby fever,” said Eleanor.

“I don’t have ‘baby fever’,” I said, rolling my eyes and ignoring Brelyna’s doe-eyed sympathetic expression. “And who’s to say you’d get a decent night’s sleep? Emrik still crawls into bed with you every night, doesn’t he?”

Hasan sighed.

“How someone _so small_ can take up _so much space_ …”

“Is this about Emrik?” asked Una, finally entering the room. “He kicks in his sleep, too.” She smiled and sat down next to Hasan, giving his arm a little pat. “But so does his papa.”

“Apparently, I like to slap Ulfric,” I said, which caused Eleanor to snort and Brelyna to giggle. “But only when I’ve stolen the covers and he tries to pull them back.”

“That bed is _huge_!” said Una. “And you’re so _tiny_! How do you manage to steal all the covers?”

“So tiny,” said Hasan, grinning and patting me on the head when I glowered at him.

“Hanna sleep walks,” said Eleanor. “It’s a bit creepy.”

“Just think,” I said to Brelyna while shoving Hasan’s hand away, “You could have all this and more if you’d just ask Lucan out on a third date.”

“Who’s Lucan?” asked Una.

But before anyone could answer her, the rest of the attendees began to arrive. And I suppose while Eleanor was perfectly happy to gush about her best friend’s love life in front of friends, she was kind enough not to do so in front of Jorleif or Griselda or Captain Black-Beard (who was here to represent the garrisoned army in Galmar's place) or any of the others for that matter.

It was a bi-weekly meeting, a sort of committee of committees organized by Lia and, in my opinion, the very epitome of bureaucracy, though that was definitely an opinion I tended to keep to myself. I could see the necessity of it, as a way to keep the many functioning arms of the palace as well as the city communicating with one another and working properly. But it was dreadfully tedious to have to sit and listen to Griselda talk about a scheduling crisis for the third floor launderers or the horsemaster petition to have more land changed to pasture—only to have the head gardener tell her that she would see the entire palace starve if those nags of hers stole more of his gardens, and that he had a hard enough time as it was keeping those ‘bloody goats’ out of the potato patch.

(We apparently kept goats as companions for some of the more skittish warhorses.)

(And, occasionally, for cheese.)

It was a meeting I didn’t always attend (although I probably ought to have). But as I was technically my husband’s stand-in while he was gone, I really hadn’t much choice this week. And _some_ of the reports were interesting. Eleanor reported that the request she’d made for documents from a library in Summerset had actually been granted. ( _We’d best test them for poison first_ , muttered Captain Black-Beard, and to be honest, I tended to agree.) The harbormaster said that our newly strengthened relationship with northern High Rock had resulted in an increase in imported luxury goods, including books, soaps, spirits, and fine cloth. Brelyna then talked about the college’s progress and how they were beginning to see more and more applicants, not just from Windhelm but from other surrounding cities and villages.

“How _many_ new applicants?” I asked, intrigued.

“Three more this week! Soon we won’t have enough beds to house them all!”

“Hold on a minute,” said Captain Black-Beard. “Do we really want all these magickers in one spot? Sounds like a security risk, if you ask me.”

“I’d hardly go that far,” said Hasan, who was lord-commander of the city guard.

“It’s true that magic can be used as a weapon,” said Eleanor. “But an untrained mage is often far more dangerous than a trained one.”

This wasn’t strictly true—only those with wild magic had a tendency to be a danger to themselves and to others if they weren’t careful. But I supposed she didn’t wish to point out to everyone here that just such a mage now sat before them, and was, in fact, even married to their king.

“Just the same,” said the captain, frowning and crossing his arms over his chest. “Maybe we should see about putting a cap on how many you lot take on at once. I’ve nothing against mages, so I hope the elf lass here won’t take offense, but the practice makes any gods-fearing Nord nervous, and that’s a simple fact.”

“You’ll need to direct your apologies to the elven _lad_ as well,” I said before I could stop myself. “Or have you forgotten that I, too, am a mage?”

The room went silent, and he blinked at me, astonished—he clearly _had_ forgotten.

“Of course, my lord,” he finally said. “My apologies.” He frowned. “Well, I suppose if Lord Casien says it’s not a risk…”

“It’s not a risk,” I said firmly. “And the school was my idea anyway.”

Conceived after making love to his king for the second time in my life, but I left that part out.

“Perhaps a compromise could be met,” suggested Lia, and I could tell that Captain Black-Beard’s suspicions had really and truly rankled me, for I almost caught myself glaring at her.

“A… compromise?” asked Brelyna.

“Yes,” I said, recovering. “A compromise.” I was silent for a moment, then: “Perhaps some of the recruits from the garrison might train with the apprentices. The army might even consider recruiting mages into its ranks.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” said Hasan, leaning forward with apparent interest. “I’d gladly send some of my people to train as well.”

“I’d have to ask Master Illena and Master Jormund,” said Brelyna, exchanging a nervous look with Eleanor. “And… they’ll probably want permission from Winterhold, from Professor Aren himself!”

“Leave Profess—Arch-Mage Aren to me,” I said. “I’ll write to him as soon as I get a chance.”

“Never thought of having a mage in the army,” said Black-Beard, stroking his bushy, aptly-colored beard. “Could certainly prove useful against—well, enemy mages and the like.”

“Having a mage healer or two in your ranks would probably be even _more_ useful,” said Eleanor, and I could tell she’d been just as annoyed by his distrust as I had been.

“Aye, it could be,” he conceded.

“Well,” said Lia. “That settles that. If there’s no further business, then I move that we adjourn today’s meeting.”

“Seconded,” said Una. “Casien,” she added, as we were all getting gratefully to our feet, “would you mind waiting for a moment? There’s something I need to discuss with you.”

Surprised, I nevertheless nodded and sank back down into my seat. Evidently, whatever it was she had to tell me necessitated that we be alone, for she turned to say something to Hasan instead of addressing me again.

“Brelyna and I are going out tonight with some of the students,” said Eleanor. “If you’re interested…?”

“You know I can’t,” I said, frowning. “I doubt you and the magelings would appreciate a pair of Stormcloak soldiers shadowing us all night.”

Eleanor glanced at Brelyna, and they both shrugged.

“I’m sure we wouldn’t mind!” said Brelyna.

I frowned and couldn’t help wishing they’d just come here and drink, the way we all three used to do when they’d first come to Windhelm. But I knew socializing with the students was important to them, so there was no point in even suggesting it.

“Maybe next time,” I said, and I waved good-bye when they both did and watched them until they disappeared from the room.

“Looks like someone’s feeling sorry for himself,” said Una, and when I turned to give her a look she just smirked at me.

“I’m not,” I said, rolling my eyes. “But—I mean, you’ve got friends, right?”

“Do four annoying sisters count as friends?”

“Okay, well, does Hasan have friends?”

“He does, and so do I. Sometimes we share.” She frowned. “But so do you.”

“Do I?” I crossed my arms and slouched back into my chair. “Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it. I mean, some days it feels like all I have is a husband and a job that revolves around said husband.”

Una snorted.

“Sounds horrible. Get back to me when you have two children on top of all that—Oh.” She blinked and bit her lip briefly. “Sorry, I know Uncle doesn’t—

“What was it you wanted to talk about?” I asked.

She looked at me, a contemplative look on her face for a moment. Sometimes it was hard to remember she was actually a few years younger than me. She had always been designated ‘the responsible one’ among her sisters—which I imagine was rather a hard label to live up to sometimes.

“It’s about the Dunmer,” she finally said.

Now it was my turn to blink in surprise.

“The Dunmer?”

“Specifically, the Dunmer Business Leaders Association. Things have gotten a little… well, let’s just say they’re not entirely happy with the way progress has stalled on a few of the projects they were promised.”

“That’s all budget-related,” I said, frowning.

“I know it, and you know it. They know it, too. But it seems they don’t like _hearing_ it from a Nord.”

I sighed. I could see where this was going. And if it was true that at least _some_ of my people were growing restless—well, that was a problem.

“Let me guess,” I said. “They want us to replace _you_ with one of _them_.”

“Not exactly. Well, maybe in a manner of speaking.” She smiled, the expression a bit wry. “They want to replace me with _you_.”

Me! I supposed that shouldn’t have been as surprising as it was; I had, after all, been the one to create the association in the first place. But none of the Dunmer in the Gray Quarter had ever seemed to particularly like me. They called me a ‘Nord-lover’ and accused me of abandoning my own people in favor of fine clothes and a comfortable bed—and a particularly infamous partner each night to share it with.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “They asked for _me_ , specifically?”

“‘Asked’ is a polite way of putting it, but, yes. They asked for you, specifically.” She hesitated for a moment, then: “I didn’t want to say it in front of any of the others. I don’t want anyone to start worrying about the Dunmer, thinking they pose some kind of threat just because they’re angry. They’re allowed to be angry, even if their anger is… okay, you’re looking at me as if you’re expecting me to say something awful.”

“Sorry,” I said, flushing. “I guess Captain Black-Beard really got to me.”

“He’s an ass. But that’s why I didn’t want him or anyone else to know about this. There are a lot of people who don’t need a reason to fear or hate the Dunmer. That said—be careful when you go.”

I snorted.

“Don’t worry about me. I think I can handle Malthyr, Revyn, and the rest.”

“I know you can. But I’m still saying to be careful.”

I promised that I would be, though I was pretty sure she was being a little melodramatic. I had absolutely no reason to fear my own people—I certainly wasn’t afraid of being yelled at or insulted, and I knew none of them would ever physically harm me. Some of them might resent me, but they weren’t a violent people, and they did still look upon me as one of their own. Though I supposed I hadn’t really had much to do with the Gray Quarter in some time, as most of my other projects had taken me to other parts of the city.

I _did_ wonder if they knew I was behind the Argonian housing project. Hmm.

I tried to put it all out of my mind as I went about the rest of my day, but it was hard. And then I found myself getting annoyed because I had woken up this morning fully intending on enjoying myself, and now I couldn’t. _Why_ were the Dunmer suddenly unhappy with all the progress that had been made in the Gray Quarter? They had been evidently happy up until now with Una as the crown’s representative, and she had faithfully reported their grievances for years now. What had changed? And by the Three—why exchange her for _ME_?

I turned in early that night. I poured myself a hot bath and dumped in nearly the entire container of vanilla and lavender-scented bath crystals I’d ordered from Jehanna. I picked a favorite book to reread and immersed myself in steaming water and read until my eyes were tired and the water had begun to grow cold. Afterward, I didn’t even bother wrapping myself in a robe. Instead I crawled straight into bed. I didn’t usually go to bed naked, and I knew I’d regret it in the middle of the night when the temperature drop became too severe, but I didn’t really care. At least Chomper eventually came to join me, so I had someone to snuggle with.

I fell asleep, and didn’t awaken again until I felt a presence hovering over me sometime in the middle of the night.

“You’re back!” I cried, and the expression on his face was one of surprise at first—I think he forgets sometimes how well I can see in the dark.

But then he smiled.

“Yes,” he said, sitting down on the bed beside me.

I sat up, causing the blankets to fall from around me, and smiled and wrapped my arms around him. I felt his arms go around me as well, and I sighed, for I’d missed his solid warmth horribly.

“You’re freezing,” he said, his low voice chiding me, but I didn’t care.

I felt him try to adjust the blankets so that they could be wrapped back around me, but it was a lost cause. Finally, I felt him sigh.

“Casien,” he said, wrapping his arms around me again. “Let me go.”

“You first,” I said, my voice muffled against his neck.

“Lie back down, and I will join you.”

That was motivation enough. I did as requested and watched as he removed the rest of his clothing—his cloak, gloves, boots, and sword belt were already gone— then I scooted back so he wouldn’t have to walk around to his side of the bed. As soon as he was lying down beside me, I attached myself to him again, another happy sigh escaping me.

“Was Galmar mad at you?” I asked, after we’d held one another for a few quiet moments. “For riding through the night?”

“No,” he said.

“He must have at least teased you, then.”

“The day he does not is the day I worry that his senses have left him.”

I laughed and finally lifted my head so I could meet his eyes.

“Was it because you missed me?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.

“Perhaps,” he said.

Cheeky old bear.

“I missed you a lot,” I said, moving closer to him again. I kissed him and felt him kiss me back immediately. “A lot,” I repeated.

His answer was to return my kiss before gently turning us so that I now lay beneath him. I smiled and ran my palms over his chest before he kissed me yet again, and slowly lowered his body over mine.

I really shouldn’t have let him make love to me. He smelled like outside—dirt and mud, soot and horse sweat. He probably hadn’t bathed in days. But I couldn’t help myself. I really _had_ missed him, and there was no way I could lie beside him now and _not_ encourage him to make love to me. And he was pretty much always receptive to my pleas, even when he was as tired as he no doubt was now, when his muscles ached from riding, and he probably wanted a bath as much as I wanted him to have one.

But he had missed me, too.

“Was it a good trip?” I asked afterward, when I was curled up again under the blankets, and he held me securely against his chest. “Productive?”

“Mm,” came the sleepy response.

“Use your words,” I said, as though I were talking to Emrik. Then, “Ow!” when his only response was to pinch me on the ass.

I turned around to face him. His eyes were closed, but I knew he knew I was looking at him now. I moved to stroke the back of my fingers over his cheek and beard. His hair was very dirty.

“I think there might be a problem with the Dunmer,” I said.

I smiled when his eyes blinked open.

“They don’t want Una to be our representative anymore,” I continued. “They want me.”

He sighed. Heavily.

“Is this something we can discuss in the morning?” he eventually asked.

I smiled and scooted forward to kiss him.

“Yes,” I said.

“I am very tired,” he said, his eyes closing again.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“No apologies.” His arm around me tightened, and he was quiet for a moment—for so long, really, I thought he’d finally fallen asleep. But then he added, “I intend to invite Falk to Windhelm.”

This took me by surprise—mostly because it was quite out of the blue, but also because I knew he was likely the last person poor Falk would choose to visit. But then once my brain caught up with my ears, it occurred to me why he was likely doing this. And I knew that Falk wouldn’t tell him ‘no,’ either.

And then, of course, I realized why he’d told me in the first place.

“He’ll bring Laurie!” I said.

Immediately, the sour, heavy feeling that had come over me earlier that day, compounded by the headache-inducing week I’d had, began to melt away. Shy, thoughtful Laurie—I didn’t think I’d be able to see him again so soon. Before I knew it, I was already planning what we might be able to do together, everything I could show him, everyone I could introduce him to. Of course, winter was hardly the optimal time to go sight-seeing through Eastmarch hold, but still. The possibilities still remained delightfully myriad.

“How soon?” I asked.

This time, he didn’t answer. I smiled and turned back around, pulling his arm more securely around my waist as I nestled back against his chest. I was almost asleep myself when I felt the mattress dip beside my face. I opened my eyes and reached up from under the blankets to pet my cat, who, after a moment, curled up beside me. I pulled the blankets over her, all the way up to my nose, closed my eyes, and was soon fast asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> ATTN: Fans of this series!!
> 
> Updates might be slightly slower than you're used to. I'm concurrently working on three different stories (including this one), and this is a first for me. I'm enjoying it so far, but, obviously, this is going to make it impossible for me to update at my usual pace. I definitely invite you to check out the other stories in the meantime! As with most of my stories, you don't really have to be overly familiar with the source material - you guys know how much I like to make my own stuff up by now 😏
> 
> Also: This story will contain alternating points-of-view between Casien and Laurie, as requested by a few readers! This is also a first for me, so please bear with me, and I hope the transition from chapter to chapter isn't too jarring!


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